february

for this year's "singles awareness day" i will get... the house to myself. yep. shaggy's dad is pretty sick, and shaggy's going up to washington to hang out with him, make him eat healthy, yadda yadda. he's leaving in a week, and will probably be gone for the whole month of february. not that i actually see him too often while he's here, but it still kinda sucks. i'm thinking a second job might be nice to fill the time... and get me some splurgin' money for all those "i'm bored so i want to spend money" incidences.
today i came up with a new addition to my list of things i want to do, that would be fun, and creative, and could potentially bring in lots of money.... i watched team america again this morning, and i was noticing that some of their props are from world market and then thinking that someone has to go buy those props/build those sets, and so on, and bam! i thought, "I want to do that!" they seem to have the kind of crew where everyone does everything and the best boy grip is also an extra, which would be perfect! i guess i need a portfolio or something. hmmm.
"resume: worked a bunch of jobs that have nothing to do with movie production, but i will scrub your toilets with a toothbrush if you let me work for you..."

sabbathy

so my "day of rest" is over... i woke up pissed off from a stupid dream about i had a paper due (at a class at byu no less!!) and i was trying to type it, but for some reason i was also taking a bubble bath, and people kept coming in and trying to talk to me, so then i got dressed and went to a computer lab to type, and people still kept trying to start up conversations, and then the computer died, so i had to go start over at a different one, and then the other people in the lab started a meeting of some sort, and tried to get me to participate and vote on stuff, and then the teacher i was supposed to turn the paper in to came in and said i was too late, sorry, and then turned around and took a paper from someone else in the same class. and i woke up in the middle of yelling about that sucking.
of course, when i woke up, it was about a half hour before the alarm was set for - which is not enough time to satisfyingly fall back asleep. so i read the paper. and then i went to work.
have i mentioned the "tradition" of i somehow get a migraine at work every sunday?
the 5 excedrins helped some, and when i got home, i immediately ran for a wellpatch (i LOVE my wellpatches!!). so now i'm just dizzy with minimal pain, and a caffeine-induced lack of slumber. woo-hoo. let's blog!
the good parts of my day involved baked ruffles and cheesy rice-a-roni. also this weird vanilla soy-milk. i don't understand why, but i'm becomming addicted to the stuff, and i don't think i even really like it.
of course, the kitties' furriness and purring was wonderful to come home to.
not a heck of a lot happened after work... we discussed the possibility of my getting gypped out of a raise again (happened the last 2 times i was supposed to get one), and the certainty that, if it happens again, i will hand in my two weeks' notice (third time's a charm). this would be sad because, for the most part, i kind of like my job. no, i wouldn't do it for free, but considering that i have to work somewhere, it's not that bad. i just want more money for doing it. pandering to the masses gets old if one isn't properly compensated.
i am happy to report that i've made it to day three of no dirty dishes left in the sink at night. i'm going to keep it that way for another couple of days at least... it's kind of nice to wake up to no crusty messes in the kitchen.

sleeping in

has anyone else noticed how, the later one sleeps, the more tired/cranky/headachey one feels upon finally getting out of bed? i am also learning the curse of taking "sick time" only to end up actually ill. i have learned that i will be "ill" for most of next week as well. i hope i feel better by then, so i can make full use of the time off (sea world, for example, or the zoo would be great places to spend the time - oh how i love so. cal!).
i had a weird combination of boredom and motivation today - this means i now have several lists: shopping, to-do, etc. and nothing actually accomplished besides turning on the bread maker. i feel the need to mention, yet again, how much i LOVE my bread maker. it's starting to smell pretty good now, which means, in about a half-hour, there will be hot, crusty, yummy fresh bread to go with my canned soup. mmmmmmmm.
so, over the next week, i plan to get my apartment cleaned up, organized, decorated (as in finally hanging all the pictures that are piled up in the closet, etc.), and i finally made an appointment to get twilight spayed... with a vet who was recommended to me by a former vet tech, so they'd better be nice to her! poor baby. come tuesday morning, she will not be a happy girl. i will be though - no more yowling all night!
but, back to the motivated/bored connundrum: i have decided that i need to do something "cool" as in, working retail is not going to be all i do forever. i think i have the options down to being a: writer, reporter, rock star, artist of some kind, lottery (or sweepstakes) winner, farm-manager-type thing if michael ever buys that soy farm, animal trainer or caretaker, or bored wealthy housewife - assuming shaggy hits it rich somehow. most of the options don't seem too realistic, but those are the things i came up with that i could see myself happily doing. so unless i get out there and take some music lessons, i should probably work on my writing skills.
i'm thinking i would have to do mostly short pieces or kids' books, since my attention span for writing isn't super-long (as in, i have only about 4 paragraphs of novel done, and i have hit a total writers' block). so, what do kids want to read about? i remember reading an article that said crude jokes and bodily functions make them happy; how about helpful harry and the farting turd-slingers...? they could have some gross icky adventures, and helpful harry could try to convince them to be civil. of course, at the end, he would be swayed by their flatulent, poop-flinging happiness, and have to join in... then there could be sequels: harry poops on his first daisy, harry and the vile booger-eating four-year-olds, harry finds a used... wait, that probably wouldn't be a good idea. anyway, something to think about.

ummmm

nothing going on. really. the highlights of the week are our new desk and the subsequent rearrangement of furniture, and that i bought a package of those fantastically soft and sweet frosted sugar cookies from albertsons. i was informed by my boss that i'm, unfortunately, going to be quite ill for a couple of days, and take sick pay to stay home, instead of eating up payroll budget when there are no projects to do at work. she seemed to think i would have a problem with getting paid to sleep in, etc. weird. anyway, no i'm not dead, but i probably won't have much to blog until i go back to work - that's where most of the stuff happens that's worth mentioning. how sad is that?!?
and we watched the ringer. it had potential to be so-so, but it turned out to be really good! i laughed out loud several times, and none of it was making fun of special olympians - rather, the "special" folks were making fun of "normal" people, and it was great. i may watch it again.

a blustery sort of day

it wasn't really blustery, but as i cannot think of an adjective that accurately describes how today was... blustery it is. i have been made to feel strangely appreciated and popular, and even competent, by a series of odd events. i think i like it. it started when our "sparkle kids" came in to work. they are a group of developmentally disabled people who work one morning a week in my store - they do all the little things we would never get around to that make the store sparkle (dusting, polishing the furniture, etc.) there are three of them, and i like them. they all work hard and do their best, and take pride in what they are doing. i haven't seen them for a couple of months because i've been closing. well, they are now trying to recruit me to be a job coach for their organization (not just the kids either, their current job coach is in on it). so i told them i'd look into it. i like the kids who come to my store, but i don't know if i'd like being the one who walks around with them to make sure they don't miss a spot while sweeping. i was also potentially recruited by one of our frequent customers - he designs and builds ridiculously expensive custom furnishings and such for the wealthy and famous, and he seems to think i could be a decent assistant: assembling stuff, schmoozing with rich folks, etc. he also offered to pay me more than what i make at my store, and i imagine the hours would be fairly regular, and in the daytime. the catch? althouh he knows i'm not available, he's kind of "into" me, which, although i can handle it when he's a customer, would definitely either annoy or creep me out over time. i'm wondering just how much money it would take to compensate for something like that. and if such a job would be worth losing the potential i have to "grow with" my company (they like to promote from within). i'm sort of conflicted, especially since today just happened to be the day that two (yep, two) of our "hard to get through to" employees reached out to bond with me. a subtle victory, but a victory nonetheless... and i am considering abandoning them... sigh. moral and employment dilemmas aside, my baked french fries have just finished becomming baked, so i'm off.

promotions

no, not mine. definitely not mine. shoot, i coudn't even get the raise i was promised three separate times (it's been over a year). no the promotion went to the other lynda - and i don't think she didn't deserve it, i just resent being told, in front of her, that now she outranks me, so i have to do what she says.
am i 4?
do i not respect even the people lower-ranked than i am?
i would hope that i would be mature/professional enough to not have to be told this, but maybe they think i plan to give her attitude... i would have just congratulated her, and kept working, but what with all the stupidness, i congratulated her, kept working, and began to think angry, devious thoughts involving sabotage. i know those thoughts will never be acted out though, since i would probably be the one who ended up fixing the resulting problems. what, no, i'm not frustrated/annoyed/pissed off/whatever...

i did score pretty well with the christmas clearance stuff - it just went 75% off today, plus my 25% discount made it pretty much dirt cheap (no, not free - i get 25% off the sale price). so i have more chocolate. like i needed that. i also have more decor i don't need and more cards/ribbons/etc. i don't need.

and i just realized i didn't give much detail on our new years' festivities, so here goes:
michael invited us to his sister christine, and her hubby, randy's house, and they made us tacos (yummy) and strawberry margaritas (also yummy) and ...... drumroll, please! i had a real margarita! with booze in it!! i wasn't a huge fan though. we played hungry hungry hippos and chatted and laughed over some chocolate pudding pie, and then had some sparkling cider and a toast at midnight. christine and i blew into some of those tiny obnoxious noisemakers, and michael tried to blow up a balloon, and hurt himself when it popped in his face. then we stayed up ridiculously late watching donnie darko, after which, aaron and i crashed on the couch (they have a really nice, huge, sink-into-it couch). after everybody woke up, michael practiced his breakfast-making skills - he's really quite good! and then we sat around and tried to think of things to do for a long time. eventually, some of us hot-tubbed, and then we all went out to the beach and had coffees at a cafe-type place. then we all went our separate ways. now that i'm writing it down, it seems like not so much, but i had a really good time. i guess it's the company you keep that makes things fun, not what you're doing.
anyway, i'm off to bed.

question for the day/year

i am wondering: if i want to do cold, cruel, horribly mean things to certain individuals and i resist the urge to do those things, am i a bitch, or is there just potential for me to behave like one?

on a sort-of unrelated topic, there have been some character issues resolved with reference to my novel.

and it looks like a commune of "us" may become soy farmers, once somebody aquires enough wealth to purchase a farm. apparantly i'm to be the farming advisor. this is kind of a scary thought because my house cactuses died. i hope we have some backup resources, like maybe i'll be a rock star, or the book will sell, or something.

or something.

any ideas for new years' resolutions? the only ones i can think of are:
get the cat fixed,
finish the precious moments latchhook that's been half-done in the closet for a year and some,
win the lottery/cash in on some large sum of money some other way,
and actually start writing the novel, instead of just thinking about it.